Ideal Spaces Working Group

We had an interview with Mustafa Sherif, urban planner and architect, about the situation of communities in recent urban contexts. According to Mustafa’s professional experience, next to the use of architecture as the “hardware” of community building, it needs the “software” of social organization, the “orgware” for bringing people together to make a change. According to Mustafa, this makes the di...

This saying from Eileen Muriel Tasca can be seen as an epitome for the podcast we made with her. Eileen is active in the international film business, member of the  International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (International Emmy® Awards), and president of two cultural initiatives, the CRÉARTS Rome and the Associazione Caput New Mundi, Rome. Through CRÉARTS Rome and Associazione Caput N...

In concluding our series about the younger generation, we had a podcast with Ieva Bykova. 19-year-old Ieva, an aspiring singer and event manager, shared her thoughts on social media, the future, and communication among young people.

In our series about art and community, we had a podcast with Dr. Jessie Croteau, Director of Communications of the College Ecological Design Collective (EDC), Baltimore/USA. Jessie is also a post doctoral fellow at Haverford College, after receiving her PhD in political Science from Johns Hopkins University, and received several awards. EDC is a space for collaboration among artists, designers, re...

Art as a Motor of Change  Jessica Croteau, The Ecological Design Collective In our series about art and community, we had a podcast with Dr. Jessie Croteau, Director of Communications of the College Ecological Design Collective (EDC), Baltimore/USA. Jessie is also a post doctoral fellow at Haverford College, after receiving her PhD in political Science from Johns Hopkins University, and received s...

In our podcast with Francesco Procacci, a problem of increasing importance for city cohesion has been addressed: the compound settlement for a gated community, and its effects on overall city cohesion and sociability. Francesco is an Italian urban designer, planner, and independent researcher whose work explores the relationship between cities, public life, ecology, and social structures. He has a...

We made a podcast with Liga Andersone, a Latvian producer, founder and CEO of Light Lab Ltd./Riga. Light Lab is a motion capture and animation studio specializing in visual storytelling, performance capture and digital production for film, games and TV. We spoke about how to bring interest in communal affairs back to the younger generation via animated work; about identity questions of the younger...

In our podcast with Ethan Kent, we spoke about community building and placemaking in the framework of the overall socioeconomic situation today. Ethan is executive director of the U.S. organization PlacemakingX, active in building up a global placemaking movement. We spoke about the central role of places for community building, since places can be seen as a nucleus for transformative approaches....

In a podcast with Ron Cox, we spoke about the possibilities of building up concrete communities, and how to keep them resilient and stable. Ron Cox has over 40 years of professional experience as a leader, facilitator, consultant, and coach. Amongst other activities, he has been the CEO of a large U.S. company (the Kincaid Group) leading a transformational turnaround, and led large projects in bot...

In a look together with Martin Savransky, new informal or “unruly” ways of liveability are addressed. Martin Safransky is a philosopher and social theorist currently serving as Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute for Language, Literature and Anthropology (CSIC), the biggest public research institution in Spain, where he leads the Liveable Futures Project. He is author and co-author of s...

In a podcast with Natasha Sharma from Mumbai/India and Dee Moxon from Bristol/ UK, the role of art as a catalysator for building communities was addressed. Natasha Sharma is co-founder, creative director and curator of the Govandi Arts Festival in Mumbai. Dee Moxon is one of the directors of the Lamplighter Arts CIC in Bristol, making The Church Road Lantern Parade.  Both Govandi and the Lantern P...

Ideal Spaces had an interview with Jonathan Kennedy, former member of the British Council, on the role of art in building communities. Two communities were examined, located in two different regions and cultures, India and England. Critical success factors for building up and sustaining communities were examined, and how to build them from scratch under unfavourable starting conditions.

The interview revisits a timeless question that has taken on renewed urgency: the idea of the ideal city. Far from being obsolete, the concept remains a vital source of inspiration—especially in the context of building a more sustainable and humane urban future. Drawing on historical models of planned cities, the conversation situates these ideas within a contemporary Canadian context. Two project...

In our series about the younger generation, we had an interview with the young Ukrainian artist and music producer Syfromfaraway who also makes his own albums. We asked Sy about his view on society and its important trends according to his view, on the younger generation and their relations to social media, and how he conceives the recent situation in its total. We also asked him about his fears i...

Interview with Dr. Andy Harrod, human geographer with a therapeutic background and head of the research group for health and wellbeing. Andy speaks about community/individual today, the influence of nature for individual wellbeing and identity, and about  the positive effects of nature-related activities for communities. In these regards, the relations between the city, community and the individua...

Interview with Ana Schluth, student of architecture, about the life of younger Americans in times of increasing economic pressure, compared to their parents’ generation; about the shift from online life to real life; about the city wanted and the need for a human-scaled city. 

In our series about the younger generation, Ideal Spaces interviewed Sarah Haeflinger, student of architecture and urban design at the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. In the context of the Ideal Spaces workshop on Identity, Place, and Citizenship, Sarah speaks about her generation, how a humane city should look like, together with the need for a human scale and green areas, and wha...

In the context of our younger generation-series and the Ideal Spaces workshop on Place, Identity, Citizenship held in October 2025 with Jason Montgomery from the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. and Ettore Mazzola from the University of Notre Dame in Rome, Ideal Spaces interviewed one of Jason’s students, Luke Kelly. What is his view on his generation, on life in the city, future de...

In our youth-series, Ideal Spaces had a podcast with Jackson Truong Montgomery, son of Jason Montgomery with whom we made our Ideal Spaces workshop on Identity, Place, Citizenship in October 2025. Jackson, a student of architecture, gives his view on the city today, citizenship, improvements needed, and his vista of a good city.

Identity, Place, CitizenshipWorkshop with Prof. Jason Montgomery, Catholic University of America, Washington D.C./Prof. Ettore Mazzola, University of Notre Dame, Rome/ Prof. John Roberts, Brunel University, UK/ Dr. Ulrich Gehmann, Grant Raynham and Ulrike Sattler from Ideal Spaces/international online participants. Held at the Ideal Spaces foundation’s venue in Karlsruhe, October 19 + 20, 2025

Introducing dialogues on important topics as a new podcast format, we start with a discussion on the topics treated in our workshop on Identity, Place, Citizenship. Prof. Jason Montgomery/Catholic University of America will discuss with Prof. Ettore Mazzola/University of Notre Dame Rome, Prof. John Roberts/Brunel University London, and Dr. Ulrich Gehmann and Grant F. Raynham from Ideal Spaces.

Identity, Place, CitizenshipWorkshop with Prof. Jason Montgomery, Catholic University of America, Washington D.C./Prof. Ettore Mazzola, University of Notre Dame, Rome/ Prof. John Roberts, Brunel University, UK/ Dr. Ulrich Gehmann, Grant Raynham and Ulrike Sattler from Ideal Spaces/international online participants. Held at the Ideal Spaces foundation’s venue in Karlsruhe, October 19 + 20, 2025

Identity, Place, CitizenshipWorkshop with Prof. Jason Montgomery, Catholic University of America, Washington D.C./Prof. Ettore Mazzola, University of Notre Dame, Rome/ Prof. John Roberts, Brunel University, UK/ Dr. Ulrich Gehmann, Grant Raynham and Ulrike Sattler from Ideal Spaces/international online participants. Held at the Ideal Spaces foundation’s venue in Karlsruhe, October 19 + 20, 2025

Identity, Place, CitizenshipWorkshop with Prof. Jason Montgomery, Catholic University of America, Washington D.C./Prof. Ettore Mazzola, University of Notre Dame, Rome/ Prof. John Roberts, Brunel University, UK/ Dr. Ulrich Gehmann, Grant Raynham and Ulrike Sattler from Ideal Spaces/international online participants. Held at the Ideal Spaces foundation’s venue in Karlsruhe, October 19 + 20, 2025

Identity, Place, CitizenshipWorkshop with Prof. Jason Montgomery, Catholic University of America, Washington D.C./Prof. Ettore Mazzola, University of Notre Dame, Rome/ Prof. John Roberts, Brunel University, UK/ Dr. Ulrich Gehmann, Grant Raynham and Ulrike Sattler from Ideal Spaces/international online participants. Held at the Ideal Spaces foundation’s venue in Karlsruhe, October 19 + 20, 2025